World-Class Auckland: Looking to the younger generation

Students from Mission Heights Junior College in Flat Bush talk about what they think is needed to make Auckland world class. Photo / Dean Purcell, NZ Herald

Auckland consistently ranks highly in lists of the world's best cities but is never number one. So what would it take to turn Auckland into a first-class city? This week the Herald continues its 10-day series examining some of the biggest hurdles Auckland faces, from housing and transport to entertainment and education. We look at what we are doing, what we need to do, and why Auckland's success matters to the rest of the country . In part nine of the series we look at what Auckland community members are doing to improve the city.

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• WORLD CLASS AUCKLAND - SERIES OVERVIEW

Corazon Miller talks to Year 7 students from Mission Heights Junior College about what they like about Auckland and what they think is needed to make it World Class.

Amanda Lee, 11
"I like how diverse Auckland is, there are different cultures from here and they respect each other.

"Auckland needs the house prices to go lower a bit so other people can afford it when they come in."

Kaylene Govender, 11
"I like the technology in school and our education.

"I'd like to see less pollution and for us to learn from Vancouver, the greenest city. If we want to become a world class city everyone needs to pick up rubbish and make Auckland as clean, or even cleaner, than Vancouver."

Sarah Sami, 11
"I like how we are very 21st century, it's all updated.

"I'd like to see transport improved and make buses and things cheaper."

Annie Lu, 11
"I like how a lot of places have farms and green areas and national plants.

"There are a lot of traffic jams, so I'd like to see more buses and trains. Our air pollution is becoming a problem, because of the amount of cars on the road. So I think we should have more space plants and trees so that we can have less pollution."

Victoria Kree, 11
"I like the sense of safety in Auckland, there's not a whole lot of crime. There aren't poisonous spiders and there aren't snakes.

"We should bring house rates down and there shouldn't be as many traffic jams, so people should try and use public transport."

Sofia Alontave, 11
"I like it's welcoming to others, when you come in you get this safe, happy and welcoming place.

"What I think would make Auckland more 'World Class', would be to have more apartments and town-houses to prevent deforestation."

Jaimee Collenette, 12
"I think Auckland is a great place to live in because it's welcoming to everyone, there's a lot of people who care about each other.

"I think we could work on public transport, there are too many cars and it's clogging up the roads which cause traffic jams. I think we could become 'World Class' by dropping the cost of houses, stopping deforestation and making Auckland smoke-free."

Prina Patel, 11
"I like Auckland as a multi-cultural city and we can learn about other cultures.

"I'd like to see more people using trains and buses."

Ronak Lal, 11
"I like it's diverse, you look anywhere you can find many cultures mixing and mingling together.

"I'd like Auckland transport to be improved, it's too slow to get around - they should make public transport accessible from all areas."

Jayden Singh, 12
"I like there's not much rubbish in Auckland, for example India, there is so much, but there's not much here.

"I'd like public transport to be improved."

Christian Lintag, 12
"What I like is that people are friendly, people are nice, there's not that much thieves

"In most roads there's traffic jams, sometimes there's crashes, so I'd like to see better public transport."